Nigeria Has Lost Almost 30% Of Its Territory To Insurgency

Human rights activist Omoyele Sowore has alleged that insurgents and other armed groups now control a significant portion of Nigeria’s landmass.

Sowore made the claim on Wednesday in Abuja while expressing support for members of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, ahead of a nationwide protest against worsening insecurity across the country.

“The country is bleeding and it has to be urgently stopped. The leadership of Nigeria has failed to protect the citizens of the country,” he said.

He decried the growing cases of abductions, stressing that worshippers of different faiths are increasingly targeted.

“You are all in the country, where people are getting kidnapped from places of worship, whether it’s a Muslim or Christian,” Sowore stated.

He also drew attention to the continued detention of schoolchildren and the dangers facing Nigerian security personnel.

“We have over 250 kids still in captivity and everybody is behaving as if everything is normal. Nobody’s even talking about our soldiers; Nigerian Air Force personnel are being captured by the small Republic of Burkina Faso,” he said.

According to him, Nigeria’s security framework has virtually collapsed, making public action unavoidable.

“It looks like everything has broken down, and we have a duty to keep. Enough is enough, and that is why we are here to march peacefully with the NLC,” Sowore added.

He rejected the argument that insecurity has always been part of Nigeria’s history, describing the current situation as the worst the country has ever faced.

“There’s no reason for us to be giving excuses that insecurity has always been an issue. It has not always been an issue. The level of insecurity we have in Nigeria now has never been like this,” he said.

Comparing the present crisis with the civil war era, Sowore noted that daily life continued in many areas at the time.

“But today, if you go to the Southeast, it’s unsafe. You go to the Southwest, it’s unsafe. You go to the Northwest, it’s completely under siege. You go to the Northeast, it’s completely taken over,” he said.

He concluded by alleging that the federal government has lost authority over a large portion of the country.

“In terms of even territory, Nigeria has lost almost 30 per cent of the territories to non-state actors who designate themselves as terrorists. They call themselves bandits, kidnappers and so on. But the truth is that it seems as if the leadership of Nigeria has lost complete control of the country,” Sowore said.